Love of logistics leads to first research published for undergraduate student

Love of logistics leads to first research published for undergraduate student

A year of research about the impact of 3D printing on the Vietnamese logistics and supply chain industry has transformed Ha Tuan Nghiep both personally and academically.

Ha Tuan Nghiep (left) and Dr Reza Akbari, Program Manager and senior lecturer at RMIT Vietnam School of Business & Management and the co-author of the research, received the “Best Paper Award” at the 12th International Conference of Asian Shipping and Logistics. Ha Tuan Nghiep (left) and Dr Reza Akbari, Program Manager and senior lecturer at RMIT Vietnam School of Business & Management and the co-author of the research, received the “Best Paper Award” at the 12th International Conference of Asian Shipping and Logistics.

“I didn’t think research was an option for me when I started my degree,” said the Bachelor of Business (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) student whose academic writing impressed his lecturer Dr Reza Akbari, Program Manager and senior lecturer at RMIT Vietnam School of Business & Management.

An initial conversation with Dr Akbari about his interest in technology, especially how 3D printing could impact on logistics and the supply chain, helped Nghiep defined his academic pathway and unlocked his potential in data analysis.

“Dr Akbari started to coach me on how to find academic journals, read them and interpret them into academic writing,” Nghiep shared. “The more I read and made sense of the data, the more I became interested in the field.”

“The vast pool of human knowledge and years of effort of academia around the world are all condensed in research papers,” Nghiep said. “All we need to do is to read them as much as possible. And at RMIT, we [students] have access to an unlimited digital collection of e-books, e-journals and Google Scholar.”

“It was not easy at first, as writing was not my strength,” Nghiep said. “I have deliberately developed my reading habit and practised paraphrasing references as much as possible.”

After six months of hard work and determination, Nghiep received the “Best Paper Award” at the 12th International Conference of Asian Shipping and Logistics (ICASL 2019) and the paper, co-written with Dr Akbari, was recently published in the Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics (Elsevier Q2 Rank).

The paper examines the impact and benefits of advanced technology, affecting logistics services and transportation in Vietnam. The abstract states: “Vietnam is currently one of the most attractive emerging markets in the world. The findings from this research provide timely and valuable new insights into this phenomenon [3D printing], as a potential mechanism for assisting the revolution of the transportation industry towards improving traffic congestion and pollution.”

Nghiep’s lecturer and coach, Dr Akbari, said Nghiep had made terrific progress and was a positive role model for others.

“Nghiep is very friendly and caring to other students and staff alike,” Dr Akbari said. “He has actively engaged in many activities such as taking the role as a program tutor for the logistics program, participating in the Nielsen Business Case Competition and winning first place, and helping with other projects from RMIT Melbourne.”

Ha Tuan Nghiep (second from left) and his team won the first place at recent Nielsen Business Case Competition. Ha Tuan Nghiep (second from left) and his team won the first place at recent Nielsen Business Case Competition.

“His teammates consider him as an active, purposeful group leader with exceptional academic ability who has assigned suitable tasks to each of the members and encouraged them to work efficiently together by providing a sympathetic ear or by setting a positive example.”

Adopting a philosophy of “learning by teaching others and by doing”, Nghiep has been facilitating the Introduction to Logistics session at RMIT Vietnam Student Academic Success.

“Because I have spent a lot of time researching in this field, I can provide a simple and easy to remember definition of logistics and supply chain to new students, which can help them navigate their degrees,” Nghiep said.

Nghiep also brought his research and data analysis ability to a recent Business Case Competition. His was the only team which provided a distribution map which clearly demonstrated how they solved the problem.

With the publication of his first paper, Nghiep has been inspired to aim even higher.

“As logistics and supply chain is a business itself which requires deeper insights to be at its best, I think a master degree will provide these critical foundations to make the most from this emerging industry,” Nghiep said.

Story: Ha Hoang

07 February 2020

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